The Life Cycle of a New Church Ministry

We get asked a lot of questions about starting new ministries, because often it doesn't go how the leader envisioned it.

Here's an overview of what it typically looks like when a church introduces a new ministry. Can you relate to this?

A new ministry usually starts with a good idea.

Maybe it's a great idea from a conference, another church, a brainstorm meeting or a time of prayer. There is excitement and energy.

Next, comes inflated expectations.

This new ministry is going to revolutionize the entire church. Dreaming happens. There are vision casting meetings and a flurry of activity. Emails are sent back and forth.

Next comes complexity.

The excitement wears off and some of the people who were initially excited fall back into what’s comfortable. Leading change is complicated. It feels like you’ve just added a lot of work to an already busy church calendar.

Now you’re at the crossroads.

This new ministry will either be refocused and aligned to become central to your strategy. Space is created for this new ministry to thrive. People realize it’s core to the church strategy and they re-invest.

Or it will slow burn to death or ineffectiveness. Without alignment and focus, the new ministry becomes one of the lesser known menu options. A few passionate people keep it on life support, but it’s not really effective. It just exists.

If you find yourself at the crossroads, it’s time to evaluate what you're doing.

You’re not looking to discover if the idea was good (surely, it was a good idea) or if people really like the approach. You’re looking for effectiveness. Does the ministry truly help you accomplish your stated mission and is it pushing you toward your specific ministry goals. Is it just a good idea, or is it critical?

It’s designed to be a conversation starter and it can help you bring every ministry and program into clear focus.

So What's Next?

Feel like your church should be growing, but it's not?

Ultimately, church growth is up to God. Are we being good stewards of what He's given us? Are we doing everything we can to ensure our church is healthy? How do we overcome the barriers we feel are in front of us?

We know you care deeply about leading a healthy growing church because it means leading more people to Jesus. So we created a free guide to breaking barriers that will bring clarity and help begin to alleviate your frustrations.

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